Hearing set on study of Fort Smith mail processing center

A rescheduled hearing on a study to close the mail processing center in Fort Smith is set for 6 p.m., Feb. 24 at the Holiday Inn City Center in Fort Smith.

The hearing was originally scheduled for Jan. 11.

The United States Postal Service announced Dec. 3 it is studying the option of closing the mail processing center in Fort Smith and consolidate the operations in Fayetteville. This marks yet another attempt by the USPS to close or consolidate the Fort Smith processing operation, which employs about 70.

Leisa Tolliver-Gay, customer relations coordinator with the USPS, said recently the feasibility study will conclude in the next “couple of months,” at which time the Dallas office will review it and send a recommendation to USPS officials in Washington, D.C. She said a decision come within the next 2-3 months, or the Dallas office could ask for more information and delay the decision.

The USPS statement on the rescheduled hearing said the study is pointing toward moving operations to Fayetteville.

“Initial study results support consolidating some mail processing operations that are currently being performed in Fort Smith by taking advantage of available processing capacity at the Fayetteville Processing and Distribution Center (P&DC) in order to increase efficiency and improve productivity,” according to the statement.

Continuing, the statement noted: “While no final decision has been reached, Postal Service managers will give an overview of the reasons for the proposal and its possible outcomes, and will listen to community input and concerns.”

A review of USPS operations nationwide is underway following a loss of nearly 26 billion pieces of mail in 2009, and an estimated loss of another 11 billion pieces in 2010.

The USPS reported Wednesday (Feb. 9) that it lost $329 million in the fourth quarter of 2010 (first fiscal quarter for the USPS), up compared to the $297 million loss in the same period of 2009. However, excluding the cost of prefunding future retiree healthcare benefits and noncash adjustments to the workers’ compensation liability, the Postal Service would have had a net income of $226 million for the first quarter, USPS noted in its statement.

“Despite significant cost reductions and efforts to grow revenue, current financial projections indicate that the Postal Service will have a cash shortfall and will have reached its statutory borrowing limit by the end of the fiscal year. Absent changes in applicable laws, the Postal Service will be forced to default on some of its financial obligations to the federal government on Sept. 30, 2011,” noted the USPS financial report.

USPS officials seek $2 billion in cost savings in fiscal year 2011, including a reduction of some 40 million work hours. However, the report notes that rising fuel prices could offset many of the cost-cutting initiatives.

Thomas Henry, the local postal 1211 union president, is working to drum up opposition to moving the Fort Smith mail processing operations to Fort Smith. He doubts the USPS will realize any real cost savings from moving the mail processing operations from Fort Smith to Fayetteville.

During a recent presentation to the Fort Smith Board of Directors, Henry rattled off several reasons to support his point. Those included:
• The USPS will still own and maintain the large facility at 74th Street;
• The USPS will use more trucks — and fuel — to haul mail from the Fort Smith region to Fayetteville to be processed and then transport back to Fort Smith for delivery;
• The 74th Street station in Fort Smith is very close to the Fort Smith Regional Airport, while the Fayetteville station is many miles — with many of those two-lane — to the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport; and,
• If the processing center and equipment is moved to Fayetteville, there will be no redundancy in the event of ice or snow storms in Northwest Arkansas.

Henry also argued that there is no physical way Fayetteville postal workers can process enough mail in the time allowed to guarantee next-day delivery. He predicted an increase in the amount of Fort Smith mail that will take two or more days to be delivered to another — possibly nearby — Fort Smith address.

Those who want comment in writing should forward comments to:
Consumer Affairs Manager
420 Natural Resources Drive
Little Rock, AR 72205-9631